Myioborus melanocephalus
Silhouette: Sam Jones · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The spectacled whitestart or spectacled redstart (Myioborus melanocephalus) is a species of bird in the family Parulidae, the New World warblers. It is found from Colombia to Bolivia. The spectacled whitestart was formally described in 1844 with the binomial Setophaga melanocephala, from a type specimen collected in Maraynioc, Peru. It forms a monophyletic clade with the golden-fronted whitestart (M. ornatus) and white-fronted whitestart (M. albifrons). Some authors have suggested that the spectacled and golden-fronted whitestarts should be treated as conspecific. The ranges of the northernmost spectacled and southernmost golden-fronted overlap and intermediate types and hybrids have been recorded. They are sister species.
As of July 2026, taxonomists recognize these five subspecies of the spectacled whitestart: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quito | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Spectacled Redstart sighting in Podocarpus National Park on a given day, based on 594 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 446 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August, October and December–June
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Spectacled Redstart in Podocarpus National Park on a given day, against about 30% in July, September and November, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spectacled Redstart sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Podocarpus National Park, in our data
Podocarpus National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Spectacled Redstart sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spectacled Redstart is recorded against all the birds logged in Podocarpus National Park (594 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
